Same Ground
by absolute power
Summary: They parted friends, right? Or at least she thought so. But why was he holding her captive again?
1. Default Chapter

**Title:** Same Ground 

**Summary:** They parted friends, right? At least she thought they did. But why is he holding her captive? Again? (set after Opal Deception)

**Disclaimer:** I own... I'll have to think about that for a while. To make things shorter, tell everyone you know that the author of the books owns this. You know who that is, right?

**Author's notes:** Er... First ever fic. It's going to be a bit weird, but I just have to get this out of my system.

Holly was sitting behind her desk, bored.Mulch hadn't arrived from Madrid yet (who knows why he had to go there), and Artemis was somewhere in Europe with his parents for summer vacation. There was no one around to tease, and the costs of calls had risen, yet again.

It bothered her that she wasn't chasing her dream anymore. But still, part of her dream was to protect and to serve the whole fairy population, but that monster of a gnome, Sool, wasn't exactly the kind of person to let her chase that part.

No, life wasn't going easy at all. Except for now. But who could appreciate easiness when you were bored out of your wits? Grub Kelp, probably. The only person she knew who could do that.

Holly stood up and sighed. She had to control her eating habits, but how many times a lifetime do you get to eat as much as you want without getting fatter or heavier? She made a mental note to go visit the doctor to ask why her digestive system was working so fast. She opened the refrigerator and found that Mulch had eaten almost everything. Well then. Maybe she could tell him off by selling it. Why they needed one in an office, she would never know.

She felt her muscles relaxing. Why didn't I see this coming? She asked herself, furiously trying to take the pad off her wrist. But it was a losing battle. She was being paralyzed, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Her eyes were closing, and she couldn't move, couldn't see. She was losing it.

Mulch opened the door carefully. He knew something was wrong. Holly hadn't come out to greet him when he came back. Somehow she always knew when he arrived. But he hadn't heard anything. There weren't even signs of a struggle. The refrigerator door was closed, the papers were stacked in a neat pile, her desk was clean, his desk was messy, and there were no footprints. Nothing was unusual. It was like she had vanished from thin air.

He spotted the communicator on her desk. She usually kept it on her desk when she was here. But she wasn't here. Then he knew something was really wrong.

He was sleepy. The trip from Madrid was tiring, and surely Holly could take care of herself. He could ask for help in the morning.

Artemis woke up suddenly. He had expected to feel refreshed, since he had slept early last night, but he was, if possible, moreexhausted now than yesterday. Perhaps it was jet lag, but he never got jet lag. He always got up refreshed at six thirty, local time or not.

"Butler," he said. Butler opened the door and stood beside his bed.

"Something is wrong. I cannot quite place what it is. There isno evidence of something being wrong, but then, there isno evidence that something isn't wrong. I just woke up tired. That is not supposed to happen, because sleeping is when your body-"

Butler stopped him mid-lecture, something that didn't happen often. "Artemis, that can happen sometimes. Perhaps you were only half-asleep. You don't get much rest from being only half-asleep."

"Surely I had a full sleep last night. The flight was extremely uncomfortable and long yesterday."

He lay back down, thinking. He didn't do this often. He was normally the one who woke his parents up. He did not like wasting time in bed when there was a lot to do after breakfast.

There was a knock at the door. "Arty," his parents called. "Open the door."

His hair wasn't combed, and he wasn't even dressed yet. But he still got up and opened the door to find two smiling faces staring at him in the corridor.

"You can go to breakfast like that if you want, you know. No one is going to finish the eggs this time." His mother said, laughing.

He scowled, remembering last summer when his parents had decided to try something different and booked them into a hotel.

"Come on, now. Why such a bad mood on a lovely morning? The skies are blue, the sun is glorious, the grass is green and the lagoon still has mist hovering over it. What more could you want?" his father said happily.

"Yes, this summer house is quite beautiful, but I miss my laptop," he said truthfully, leaving out the part that he was tired. "Mother just had to convince me not to bring it. It gets boring, just watching birds fly from tree to tree. They do not seem to do much else."

Butler smiled. Typical Artemis, he thought.

"Then don't watch the birds. Eat breakfast. You need your food. You're getting too thin." His mother said, holding his hand and leading him to the table.

He sat down near the head of the table. After they had breakfast and he had changed into his usual dark two-piece suit ("Artemis, you shouldn't be on vacation like _that", _said his mother), the three of them went walking around the grounds. He promptly forgot about his exhaustion as hewatched the birds fly from tree to tree.

**Author's notes:** Well? Was it terrible? Was it okay? Was it good? I've still got quite a few more chapters to go, though... so if you didn't like it, tell me and if loads don't like it I will not continue the fic.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Second Chapter! 

Special thanks to **refloc**, my first reviewer. Yeah, it was a little out of sequence. It was supposed to have dividers, but for some reason didn't put them in. So I just put in some words. And this chapter is much like the other one, only Holly knows something about her kidnapper now. (You know what, I was so happy when you reviewed. Check out my bio, and you'll find there an advertisement of your fic.) Oh yes, and can you tell me a nice vacation place in Europe which has a different time zone from Ireland? I was thinking Italy but I wasn't sure if it had a different time zone.

**Chapter title:** er... Chapter 2. How original.

**Summary:** Artemis wakes up again. Just as exhausted. The only reason he still didn't have bags under his eyes was because he had slept the whole afternoon yesterday. Meanwhile, Holly finds herself in a brightly lit room. Of course, she meets her kidnapper, who is...

Can't tell you. :D

**Disclaimer:** Yes I'm sure I own something here... Er, let me just look through the pile of things belonging to Eoin Colfer...

**On with it!**

Holly woke up. She tried to yawn, and found she couldn't. Was she even awake? She didn't know. All she could see was redness.

"Hello."

If she had been able to move, she would have jumped.

"Don't worry, the effects of the paralysis fluid will wear off in a matter of hours. 120 minutes,  
to be precise."

Of course. It all came back to her now. The refrigerator, the paralysis. Who are you? she asked. Obviously it was only in her head because she couldn't speak.

"Now I'm sure you would be asking me who I am and what I've done. If you were able to talk.  
Well, for the latter, I have obviously kidnapped you. As for who I am... I will not tell you just yet. And I am certain that you want to know, so I will take pity on you and tell you one thing.  
It should be obvious, but at least I told you. I am a male."

Obviously! With that kind of voice, who could think he was female? Holly willed herself to be calm. She babbled nonsense when she panicked. She was panicking now.

"I suppose I must leave you now. Oh yes, and do not try to escape once the 120 minutes is done. There is a magnetic sphere around your bed. There is about one foot from the bed to the edge of the sphere, so you can walk, if careful."

The person left.

Strange, Holly thought. That voice sounded a bit familiar...

_Mulch's point of view_

Mulch woke up. He knew there was something he was supposed to do, but he couldn't quite remember it. He spotted the communicator on Holly's desk. Odd, he thought. I fell asleep at my desk, and now the communicator is on Holly's desk and she doesn't seem to be anywhere.

Then he remembered. Yes. It was odd.

So Holly must have been kidnapped. He whistled slightly. She was tough, and she wasn't easy to drag. Unless she couldn't move...

Mulch began to look frantically for any sign of where she was dragged.

_Artemis's point of view_

Artemis woke up. It was a glorious morning, like yesterday. But he was also exhausted, like yesterday. The only reason he didn't have dark circles and bags under his eyes was because he had slept in the afternoon.

Of course it was perfectly understandable that he was in a bad mood. After all, who wouldn't be if you were supposed to have a worry-free vacation and you were too exhausted to do anything but sleep?

He could have gone walking along the lagoon. He could have gone kayaking with his father on the lagoon, even if he did not know how and he was not the strongest person on earth.  
He could have gone on the tour with his mother. But no. He had to sleep because he was tired.

The day went on without anything exciting. They were inside the house all the time, because it had started to rain hard. A nice, refreshing change from the heat of the summer.

As he got into bed and closed his eyes, he didn't notice a small black shadow on the window sill.

**Author's Notes:** So? Nice? Bad? Terrible? Sad? I might never know. Since I am a nice person I will not ask for you to review. I will just ask you to tell me what you think. No it is NOT the same thing.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews, guys! 

I forgot to email you, **refloc**. Sorry. Well, you didn't put your complete address in. Well, truthfully I forgot it, but truthfully you only put something like this. refloc. See?

As for **Silver, IwuvMyKenshyPoo** and **cloudlessnight**, I think you're right. Well, all will be revealed here.

Oh yes, and due to increasing demand for longer chapters... I'll try. It's just that it comes out longer in Notepad, which is what I use.

**Disclaimer:** I own the little black shadow. That is all.

_On with it!_

_Holly's point of view_

Holly began to go over what she knew. She knew that she was lying on a bed, paralyzed. She knew that if she tried to get out, she would be flung back in by a magnetic field sphere. She knew that her kidnapper was male.

Well that's helpful, she thought glumly. Now that I know my kidnapper is male, who knows what he'll do? Oh, I don't know. Probably what a female kidnapper would do anyway. What's the difference? A kidnapper is a kidnapper, regardless of gender. She knew that females wouldn't offer any mercy whatsoever. She also knew that males didn't usually give mercy.

So maybe my kidnapper wants information. If I tell him, then for all I know he'd kill me. If I don't, then I know he will. It's a lose-lose situation.

But why did his voice sound so familiar? she wondered. It couldn't be Foaly, it definitely wasn't Mulch, and Sool wouldn't bother with her. It was like I listened to that voice everyday.

Surely it wasn't Artemis.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was true. I thought you were my friend, she thought bitterly. The anger and feeling of betrayal very, very gradually welled up inside her until it was dying to come out. Finally she couldn't suppress it anymore.

She opened her mouth, and screamed.

_Artemis's point of view_

Artemis was walking. He didn't know it, but he was walking. He had already stepped out of his bedroom, walked the corridor, walked down the stairs, and opened the door. The cold wind whipped his hair around, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them again.

Then the ground rose up to his neck. He wasn't sinking. He was merely walking. Walking through the soil. It reached his nose; he couldn't breathe for a moment.

Then he was through, miraculously free of mud or dirt of any kind. If anything, the ground had cleaned him. Then he was walking again, and before he knew it (for he didn't even know he wasn't sleeping) he had covered miles. His feet were tired, his stomach screaming for food, his throat crying for anything to cool and soothe its ache.

More and more miles were covered. It was an unusually quick journey. In a matter of minutes, he had arrived at his destination.

It was little more than a hole in the wall. In fact, it was the entrance to a house. A rather large house, by fairy standards. He headed for the second hallway, finally entering the fourth blue door to the right.

And on the bed, drowning in the thick, white linen sheets and soft green pillows, was an elf. She was extremely pretty, with her nut brown skin, cherubic lips and large hazel eyes. Large hazel eyes that were gazing at him with a mixture of betrayal, disbelief and anger.

"Hello again, Holly," Artemis said, not knowing he had spoken. "I see the effects have worn off. Well, they would have. You have been in here for 3 days."

"In these 3 days I've been living in a more luxurious lifestyle than even Opal Koboi back when you were twelve. I've been fed, watered, and pampered. And I hate it, Artemis. I hate every minute of it. Especially the thousands of minutes after I figured out it was you."

"And yet you haven't been trying to escape."

"That isn't the typical you. Have you forgotten? You told me there was a magnetic sphere around the bed. I'll be thrown back into bed the second it feels even a millimeter of skin. Have you forgotten, or do you just like the sight of disappointed, half-crazy elves trying, and failing miserably, to escape?"

"May I inform you, Holly, that there isn't any magnetic sphere anymore. I decided that it wasn't worth wasting magic if I could just make the doors, walls, floor and ceiling 10 times stronger."

Her eyebrows dropped down to an alarmingly low height. But before she could ask, Artemis was gone.

_The little black shadow_

The black shadow waited for him in front of the fourth blue door on the right. She was tired of being a shadow. It hid your face, and her face was possibly her largest physical advantage. But her mind was more powerful, and the spell was more effective as a shadow. She didn't know why. It was one of the mysteries of magic.

Chrysanthene was a warlock. Or, according to the more sexist fairies, a witch. Yes, she could perform the simple healing and mesmer done by the normal fairies, but she was unique, even for a witch. No other witch could dive into the body and brain and possess whoever they wanted. What was more, she could even leave a bit of herself behind for if anything went wrong. And nothing did.

Of course, this was pure play for her. She had found herself running hot, something she liked very much. But she found that little by little, your magic went away even if you weren't doing anything. So, she decided to use her magic. Unfortunately, she didn't know how. Until she heard about Holly Short and Artemis Fowl.

What if, she had asked herself, I do a cliche and put friend against friend? It would be fun. It would be effortless. But it was something to occupy her time and magic, so she could complete the Ritual soon. And then she would be running hot again.

Of course, there were many other things she could have done. Things that were more fun, more exciting, and more taxing on magic. But it was this one she set her heart on. Because she was always fascinated with humans. They had one thing in common. The excitement of war, battle and chaos. And it was a fourteen year old boy she would be dealing with. There weren't many of them available for an experiment.

Chysanthene was insane. She knew it. She took pride in it. And this one would be her most insane project yet. Until she thought of something better.

**Author's note:** But there is a flaw in her plan. A flaw that will bring it crashing down her ears. But hope is not lost for Chrysanthene. It is for Artemis. Bwahahahaha! Hah!


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I kept starting it but could never finish it.

**IwuvMyKenshyPoo**, I don't exactly know if I'm glad you're right. As **cloudlessnight** said, it was a bit obvious.

**Refloc**! Yes, I already reviewed Hitting Hard (chapter 16, I am so behind) and I liked it. Yes, I got past the first sentence, hehehe. And I even got past the 11th paragraph.

To **everyone else**, thanks for your reviews!

**Oh yes and according to my all knowing brother who just hacked into my account (brilliant and totally insane older brother, I adore him, here he is with that smirk on his face, how I long to wipe it off though) Same Ground is now T.**

**Warning:** If you like Artemis's nose as it is, you might not want to read it. But it gets alright in the end.

**Disclaimer:** I own Chrysanthene and her house (believe me, they're worth owning). Unfortunately I don't own Artemis. See my bio for the full rant.

_Chrysanthene_

Chrysanthene smiled. That, in turn, made the object of her possession smile. Widely, for a change.

She was having fun. She hadn't had this much fun since 1993 when she had possessed Council chairman Cahartez. Unfortunately the fun had ended in a few minutes.

But this had been going on for quite a while already. How many nights? She forgot. And human brains were bigger than the usual. More leg room. This boy's brain was even bigger than most. Massive.

Plus, she had found something that would interest her for the rest of her life. Somewhere in that huge lump of nerves, there was a tiny gland. A pituitary gland. After a few minutes of eyebrow raising and frowns, she finally got it. She released a few hormones, and the results were hilarious. She had found it so funny, in fact, that she had gotten carried away. The poor boy had already grown an inch.

Then she decided to quit. After all, how many growth spurts can a human stand? Especially one who's walked miles.

She sighed and went to her room. She laid her new body into her bed and put him to sleep. Luckily for him she liked to take care of her toys. But she really shouldn't have. Now she was restless and hungry.

She surfaced from his brain, fluttering outside to look for food.

And that was quite possibly the biggest mistake of her life.

_Artemis_

Artemis woke up, as usual, tired. His eyes fluttered open, then quickly shut. He must be hallucinating. It must be from fatigue. After all, it wasn't often you slept in a sky blue room and woke up in a red one.

All he wanted to do now was roll over and go back to sleep. Which was uncharacteristic, when you thought about it. So he rolled over…

And fell to the floor with a loud smack. If the floor weren't thickly carpeted, it would have hurt him a lot more. For now, he only had a sore nose.

He thought as he rubbed his nose. My floor isn't carpeted, he thought with a start. And I always sleep in the middle. If I ever decided to roll over, there should have been a lot more bed left.

He hesitated, then opened his eyes. Yes, it was a red room. A rather nice and comfortable room. But it had a black ceiling and floor, and the furniture was also black. That made this room the room of either an evil mastermind or a drama queen.

Where am I? He wondered. What am I doing here? He had a million questions, and he wanted them all answered.

Then he heard the screaming. It sounded quite horrible. It definitely belonged to a female who took a deep breath. So obviously she wasn't being tortured, because it was going on for quite a while and it hadn't stopped. No one really had time for a deep breath before torture. No, it must be a frustrated scream.

He opened the door. Black, as usual, he thought.

He found himself in a corridor with rows of doors in varying colours. He stepped to the left. The screaming grew slightly louder. It seemed to be coming from the room next to his, if you could call it his.

Reaching for the door, he stopped. What if this is a trap? He thought. I could just waltz in there like an idiot, and something might happen. But his curiosity won out. He decided to just _walk_ in there like an idiot and risk it.

Unfortunately something did happen. A large pillow was whacked into his face. It had just fallen off when it was replaced by a small brown fist.

"You prat! What is with you? Come back to gloat over my frustration? I have no idea WHY you still added strengths to everything here when the door was locked anyway!"

"Holly?" he asked. Despite all his efforts, he still sounded like he had a cold.

"Of course! Who else would give you a nosebleed?"

Ah. So that was the liquid trailing from his nose. He had feared something worse. "And you broke it."

"Well, considering what you've done, I think that was rather fitting."

What have I done anyway? He thought as he closed his eyes and lay down. He always knew a broken nose hurt, but he hadn't realized it was this bad.

"Oh, only paralyzed me, dragged me a few miles down here, locked me in, left me in there to rot…" she paused. "Well, you always left me food and water, and I don't know _how_ you did that, since you only visited me every night…"

Had I said that out loud? Maybe I just don't realize it. "Odd. I do not recall doing that recently. Perhaps it was someone else."

"Someone else! How could I not recognize you? Black hair, blue eyes, pale skin… Of course it was you! Get me Foaly's Retimager and I'll show you."

"I highly doubt that it was me, unless of course the kidnapper had plastic surgery. Perhaps a DNA test would be appropriate."

"I'm sure it was you."

"Are you really that certain?"

"I just said so, didn't I?" Somehow that line seemed familiar to her. Oh right. Foaly. Just before the Commander died. She held back her tears and continued. "Let me say it again, slowly. I'm sure."

"How?"

"Well you just turned up a few minutes earlier! In exactly the same clothes! You seem to have grown an inch, though, can't explain that… But I'm sure it was you!"

He fell silent. Thinking was his forte. And that's what he proceeded to do, even if it was difficult to ignore the red liquid spilling over his chin, not to mention the pain in his nose. "How could I have grown an inch in a few minutes?"

"Don't know. Maybe I just imagined it. But anyway, I'm sure it was you."

Artemis wasn't used to pain of any kind. In fact, the last time he had really experienced pain was when the troll had slashed his ankle. That wasn't so bad. But this was almost as bad as the two broken ribs in Munich. He felt like he was going to pass out.

Holly must have sensed this. "You want me to heal you, don't you?"

He opened his eyes, and that was when he realized he had kept them closed. "Yes."

The elf bit her lip. He knew it was in her nature to heal him, but he wasn't sure if she would gather enough anger to leave him there. He decided not to push her.

"Oh, all right. Just don't make those idiotically bright blue eyes any bigger. They might pop out, and I don't want to heal someone _that_ screwed up."

Oh. He hadn't realized he was making such an infantile manipulative move. That all disappeared when Holly put her hand on his nose (which was an unusual place to put it) and started to heal him. It was more painful than he had expected, and he winced slightly as the bone healed.

_Holly_

Quite a while later, they were walking down the seemingly endless corridor.

"So Fowl, I heard you've been in a summer house…. Somewhere. How is it?"

"It's quite nice, really. I have this room with a perfect view of this meadow. And, even if I find it very boring, there is something fascinating about the birds."

"And this must be pretty far below it."

"I should say so."

"So how did you get here?"

For once he seemed genuinely, thoroughly confused. "I really wouldn't like to say this, Holly, but I don't know."

They walked in silence.

"Plastic surgery?"

Holly was taken by surprise at this sudden question. "Of course not. He would have had exactly the same wardrobe at a strangely coincidental time."

"Illusions, perhaps?"

Again she struck that suggestion down. And the next. And the one after that. No matter how possible his suggestions seemed, there was always this way to ensure it wouldn't happen. Until…

"Are there any fairies who can possess people?"

"You know," Holly said thoughtfully. "This actually isn't a very idiotic suggestion, not that I'm insulting your intelligence. I think some might be able to. It's probably a very complex form of the mesmer, but I think it can be done."

"Then we've found it."

_Chrysanthene_

In the kitchen, Chrysanthene was sitting down. Of course, she was also listening to their every word, feeling more stupid every second. Why did I have to leave him like that? She thought angrily. I should have known. I wasn't at the top of the year for nothing.

Then something made her freeze halfway through a bite of spring roll.

"Are there any fairies who can possess people?"

"You know," the elf said thoughtfully. "This actually isn't a very idiotic suggestion, not that I'm insulting your intelligence. I think some might be able to. It's probably a very complex form of the mesmer, but I think it can be done."

"This is it," she moaned. "I'm ruined." Then she had an idea.

She walked out the door in her normal form, not a shadow anymore. It was drastic, but it should work. Anyway, she was going to benefit from it either way.

Unfortunately one of them would suffer terribly.


	5. Chapter 5

**IwuvMyKenshyPoo**, I just found it so funny. The idea hit me in my famous shower where I get all my ideas. The other places are my famous bed and famous couch. Pituitary glands are so interesting, though. I really don't understand how they secrete hormones (okay, truthfully I understand that) and those hormones can change the body. I know they're chemicals, but why don't we just synthesize HGH so short people can be taller? Thanks for the bazillion reviews comment. I liked that. 

**Aperfectattitude,** thanks. It's not real physical suffering though. But it could be.

**Disclaimer:** There was this girl called Absolute Power, you see. She had a dream last night about owning Artemis. She was so happy. Then she woke up, and she realized it was only a dream. Fortunately, she does own Chrysanthene and her house.

_Chrysanthene_

Yes, it was drastic. But it would work. She almost regretted ever starting this project. She should have just gone along with her initial Let's Be Julius Root plan. Unfortunately he had died. So she had spent the following months thinking. It was back to the old goblin versus dwarf game that she had played so many times that she detested it. Until she found out about Artemis and Holly.

This should be fun, she had said to herself. I'm going to love this.

Now, Chrysanthene was a good person. It was in her nature. But she wasn't satisfied, really. She was quite ambitious, and more than greedy. And everyone had a dark side. Eventually hers overcame her. But still, though she used to take delight in hurling fireballs at dwarf criminals, she couldn't bear to actually make someone suffer so much. She liked scaring people, but that was about it. She would have loved to eventually rule the world, but she promised herself she would not be a tyrant. In her mind, tyrants were very low creatures. Imagine, harming others just for power! True, she did that, but she only possessed them. Besides, she took good care of her toys.

So she opened the door in her normal fairy form. She was pretty, with curly blue-black hair and white skin. She wasn't pale, but she was just right. Her lips were pink, her figure was good enough, and her eyes were such a dark brown that it could be black. A lot of boys liked her. Actually, they _would_ have liked her if only she was stupid. No such luck. She was intelligent, the top of her year. Boys could be so sexist sometimes. If only all boys could drill it through their thick skulls that girls have worth. If it weren't for girls, no one would exist!

Enough of the rant, she scolded herself. You're wasting time.

She strode down the corridor, changing as she went. First her head went. It would have been quite a scare for someone to see a headless girl walking, but there weren't any people yet. Then everything went, gradually, until her toes changed too. Now she was nothing but a shadow. One of her three amazing gifts.

Then Artemis and Holly came into view.

"You don't think…"

"I do, Holly. I know now, that's why I've been waking up so exhausted every morning. That's why I'm exhausted, hungry and extremely thirsty right now."

"But you have such a strong mind…"

"Then whoever possessed me must have a stronger mind."

Chrysanthene noted Holly's amazed expression. "But… That would have been an amazing person. You've got the strongest mind I know."

Well you don't know me, the shadow thought smugly.

"You don't know them then."

She didn't notice this because she was positioning herself so that Artemis's head would go straight through her. If she had noticed though, she would have laughed in delight.

Contact. Skin on shadow. She dove in through his forehead, settling between the left and right side of his brain. Artemis stopped. That was the last voluntary movement he made.

"Why?"

"I just noticed we haven't been going through any doors."

"So?"

"We might be able to catch them if they're hiding somewhere there." Chrysanthene spoke calmly, mentally congratulating herself. Which was hard to do, as she was occupying someone else's brain. Of course, the boy's brain wouldn't congratulate itself. She knew because she was a professional. She knew how to do it.

"Artemis…" the elf hesitated.

"What?"

"You know I don't trust you, right."

He scowled. Or rather, she scowled. "Correct. Even though we have already agreed that I was being possessed and manipulated."

"Look, I know that, but I still can't bring myself to trust you."

"Holly, I seem to have been a slave for quite a while. A slave to a fairy. A slave to my own mind. Or rather, the fairy's mind. Do you think I like the idea? I much preferred my 'idiotic plastic surgery suggestion' to this."

"It honestly sounded idiotic…"

"Well I'm not an idiot." There. She was doing it again. Losing control. Chrysanthene mentally kicked herself. Another difficult thing to do in someone else's brain.

"Really, Artemis, I only meant-"

"Holly, let's face it. I am an idiot. You say so. I know that you usually tell the truth, so it must be true. I hate the idea very much, I should tell you. I'm an idiot. I just let someone possess me as if I were some kind of toy! Who would have thought? Artemis Fowl the Second, a slave! If I had been told that earlier, I would have laughed. Now I know. I'm an idiot. I may be a genius, but I'm an idiot."

The elf's face fell. Chrysanthene supposed that she wasn't pouting, even if her bottom lip was jutting out a bit. "You and I know that's not true."

Now she decided it was best to improve things. An angry Artemis could foil up the plan. She made him sigh. "Of course. I was just getting… carried away."

"That's better."

"Now, we really have to try these doors." Of course, Chrysanthene had lengthened the argument a bit. Now they were facing a steel door. It was the end of the corridor.

The door was slightly open. A shadow fluttered in. Half of Chrysanthene. Another of her three amazing gifts.

"I don't have a good feeling about this door…" Holly began.

"I don't either." She made Artemis grab her hand and lead her to the door. "That must mean it's the right place."

Then they were plunged into total darkness as they entered the room. The door clanged shut behind them.

Chrysanthene tightened his grip on the elf's hand, making it more realistic. Then she left and joined her other half.

The transformation began somewhere near her toes, unlike earlier. Soon she was standing there, looking at them. Then she realized it was pitch black and they couldn't see her.

She flicked the switch.

_Artemis_

Artemis blinked in the sudden light. There stood a girl in the center of a green room that looked like a kitchen. She was pretty. In fact, she was beautiful. Mesmerizing. But he wasn't interested. He was interested in what she was doing there.

"Hello Artemis. Holly," the girl said, acknowledging them with a slight nod. She did, however, grace him with a smile.

"Excuse my asking," he said politely. "But who are you?"

The girl laughed. "Of course. How could I have forgotten? I am Chrysanthene."

"Any last name?" Holly asked. Artemis realized he was holding her hand quite tightly.

"No."

There was silence. "Are you the one who has been possessing me?"

"Yes. Quite an interesting memory you had there, you know. That one about the eggs in the hotel last year. I think I laughed out loud. Oh yes, and I'm sorry to say you've grown an inch in the space of a few minutes. I got carried away with that interesting pituitary gland."

"Oh."

Another pause, this time longer. "Would you care for some water? And food, you must be hungry."

Artemis suddenly realized how ravenous he was. Odd, he thought. So many realizations in one night. "Yes please."

Holly held his hand tighter, which, impossible it may have seemed, could be done. "It could be poisoned."

"Holly, dear," Chrysanthene said. "I don't poison my subjects. They are, after all, my body. Well actually, this is my body. But, you understand what I mean."

There was another pause.

"Spring rolls, I'm afraid. I have a fondness for them, and they're all I have. Now this," there was a smug gleam in her eye as she raised the glass. "Is a glass of Irish spring water. From my own well. Very clean, very sweet. I'm sure you'll like it."

"Thank you," he said, taking the offered food quickly. The first bite of spring roll tasted like heaven after having nothing to eat when he was walking the miles down to this place.

"Tasty, isn't it?"

"Very delicious."

Chrysanthene smiled. "I suppose my stock is down two rolls. But that doesn't matter," she said, making a quick mental calculation. "If I'm right, then I had 106 rolls. I should have 104 now."

Artemis raised his eyebrows as he took another bite. Holly had let go of his hand already, eyeing his food suspiciously.

"Enough of the boring talk of spring rolls. Please, sit down on the chairs here. We have to talk."

**Author's notes:** Chrysanthene seems nice enough. She's polite, anyway. **THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE MY LAST. **If you really like this story, though, you'd like to know that **THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL**. So, I decided that I'll put up the two stories together, so I can link you. Ah better not. I'll just pester you to click on my name and read my profile. You might find something interesting in there, **refloc**.


	6. Chapter 6

**My last chapter... I love this fic so much… Pity I couldn't do a **refloc** style, 10 chapters. Or better, a 31 chapter thing… I forgot the author. Well, I guess I'm stuck on chapter six. Oh yes, and the sequel is called Invictus… **

Thank you to everyone who even remotely liked this story! Oh yes, and about Mulch… I had this idea of putting him in at the end of the story. The thing is, I forgot how it was supposed to turn out. So you're left with this much, much shorter version of Same Ground chapter six.

**Disclaimer:** What? A disclaimer? I don't need one! I own Artemis and Holly and Mulch and…. Oh no here come the lawyers. Ooh, there's Eoin himself! Now I can demand why he chose Nicholas Hoult… Oh no, I see the court already… Got to dash. Well, anyway, I don't own them. There, that got those lawyers out of my way….

_Artemis_

No. There was absolutely no way he was going to do that.

"Can you repeat that please?" he asked, taking a bite from his second spring roll. He was hoping that he had heard wrong.

"I said that I can keep Miss Short prisoner here for quite a long time."

"After that."

"I said that if you wanted me to release her, I will."

He sighed with relief. "That's good. At first I thought I heard you say that you would possess me for the rest of my life."

"I did."

He dropped the spring roll halfway to his mouth. Holly was still sitting on the chair, eyes wide, looking at Chrysanthene with intense hatred.

"It's just that there's so much leg room in there."

"You're insane." Holly glared fiercely as she spoke.

"I know. I'm proud of it." The fairy ran her fingers through her curly hair.

"What about my parents? What about Butler, and everyone else? I have a routine…" He was grasping at straws here, and Chrysanthene seemed to know it.

"I already know your routine. Memories really come in handy. And I will, of course, act like you."

"My studies?"

"Don't worry. With your genius, it's impossible to fail. That is, if you can control it. Fortunately for you I am extremely intelligent, though not yet a genius. And I will bring out your genius when I need it. Maybe I will even enhance it."

Artemis had one last straw to grasp. If she had it covered, he was doomed. "Physical development?"

A sigh. "Yes, I have to be quite careful about that. It's just that it was so funny, especially when-"

"Skip that part," Holly said, not wanting to hear it. After all, it was rather unlikely that all that had happened to Artemis was height increase.

"Fine. But I've got that covered too. I studied the developments of humans in Zoology last year. I just graduated. Several companies asked me to join them in their human studies, but I declined. I prefer working on my own. I even timed the developments. Girls, mostly, because I am female, but I did some boys too. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"As fine as someone can be without being able to control their life," Holly spat.

But Artemis had an idea. Hopefully it would work. "And if I decline?"

"Decline to have yourself possessed? Well obviously Miss Short here has to stay. If you do decline, I would advise her to stay in one place. After all, I can't exactly bring her food and water if I can't find her, can I?"

The boy knew she was manipulating him. He detested that act. He hated it. But he wasn't about to deny Holly her freedom, right? She was his friend. But he had always dreamed of being great, of proving himself by his own genius, not the intelligence of a fairy. "I know you're manipulating me. But I do not want to keep my friend shut in here for the rest of her life. She is, after all, quite adventurous. I remember all those things we went through together. I wonder what it will be like, going on adventures with her, without really being there."

Chrysanthene's gaze softened a bit. Maybe it would work. Hopefully it would. But then realization dawned on her. "I can't believe you. You're manipulating me."

No such luck. If it had been anyone else, he would have cried. But he was Artemis Fowl II, so he only bit his lip. An unusual act for him. But then, who could blame him? Everything he knew, everything he thought he was going to do, was shattering into a million pieces. He wouldn't even be able to control his thoughts. Unless he declined.

He tried not to look at Holly. He honestly did. But it was useless. He caught her gaze. Her eyes had a strange look in them. A mixture of sadness, trust, and…. Pity? No one pitied a Fowl. Not unless that Fowl was going to have his life completely taken over by a fairy.

He sighed. She trusted him. He didn't want to leave a friend in here. Neither did he want to be controlled, but that was the price you paid. Your freedom for someone else's.

Artemis sighed again. "Very well."

Those were the last voluntary words to come from his lips. Chrysanthene smiled, transformed into a shadow, and flew into him. She was possessing him again. And she knew that this particular possession would last a long, long time.

**Author's notes: … Well, I guess that's it. The sequel, Invictus, is up… I hope you liked it… **


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